This is SUCH a village.
We were at the museum opening I mentioned yesterday, when a woman who lives down the street mentioned to me that my Catalan teacher is going to be marrying the man who dated one of the women I worked with and wanted to date another (who is my BF here) and is now engaged to the Catalan teacher. They have been dating for approx. five weeks. She has a teenage daughter. Let the games begin.
I promptly phoned my buddy, the one he wanted to date, I was so excited to have news she didn't.
We saw them together later in the day.
He hadn't said anything.
My BFH seemed a little put out and maybe confused.
I commented that maybe he wanted to keep another iron in the fire, just in case.
Glad she understood the idiom.
Another note. Sitting in the sun for nearly four hours, even with a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses makes your head feel yucky.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
This one day....so much to say.
Teacher Mommy tagged me for a meme, which I am right up for, but I have so much to say right now....so it is going to wait for just a little bit.
There is a man here in the village who we have dubbed, with great originality, "The rudest man in the village" because he is so far. I don't honestly know what he is like, but on the surface, he is simply amazing.
I must see the man 3 or 4 times every single freaking day. It is the way our life works, our paths cross and re-cross. His kid goes to the same school as youngest and he must live over near where I work.
He has never, once, looked me in the eye or said hello, well, hola. He muttered something once after I was past him when he saw me coming out of the hills with a big fat fistful of asparagus. I muttered something that sounded suspiciously like f*ck you.
You have to understand just how small a town it is. We see the same people over and over and over again. You say hello to EVERYONE. You say hello every single time you go into a store, and good bye. To everyone. You say hello to the vast majority of the parents at the school when you pick up your kid, and if you catch someone's eye on the street, you had better d*mn well say hello. I spend a serious amount of time saying hello.
Not this guy. Not with me.
Oh my.
I was talking to my best friend here (BFH) about it, wondering if he just wishes these freaky foreigners would stay out of his village/province/country, if he was just an astonishing jerk or, as my friend kindly offered, he is just shy.
That is some level of shy, let me tell you.
Then we were at a local opening, for a little museum in town, and they had put up a lovely new plaque explaining all about it in Catalan, Castillian, Braille and English. I cannot attest to the Catalan and Castillian, though I imagine it was very correct. Nor can I attest to the braille, other than to say it was bumpy.
- as an aside here, how is the blind person to find the sign anyway?
The English though....was really bad.
A shame.
WHY WHY WHY didn't they ask us to look it over, you may ask?
Guess who runs that museum.
My man (to differentiate him from the rudest man) went over and diplomatically pointed out that we would be quite willing to help and please don't put up anymore signs without a native speaker looking them over. Yee gads. He even -diplomatically I thought- mentioned how difficult it is to get just the right words in just the right tone in a foreign language; though the problems with this sign runs deeper than that.
Turns out they were translated by the wife of the rudest guy's closest buddy. Seems she is an English teacher.
I dread to think.
There is a man here in the village who we have dubbed, with great originality, "The rudest man in the village" because he is so far. I don't honestly know what he is like, but on the surface, he is simply amazing.
I must see the man 3 or 4 times every single freaking day. It is the way our life works, our paths cross and re-cross. His kid goes to the same school as youngest and he must live over near where I work.
He has never, once, looked me in the eye or said hello, well, hola. He muttered something once after I was past him when he saw me coming out of the hills with a big fat fistful of asparagus. I muttered something that sounded suspiciously like f*ck you.
You have to understand just how small a town it is. We see the same people over and over and over again. You say hello to EVERYONE. You say hello every single time you go into a store, and good bye. To everyone. You say hello to the vast majority of the parents at the school when you pick up your kid, and if you catch someone's eye on the street, you had better d*mn well say hello. I spend a serious amount of time saying hello.
Not this guy. Not with me.
Oh my.
I was talking to my best friend here (BFH) about it, wondering if he just wishes these freaky foreigners would stay out of his village/province/country, if he was just an astonishing jerk or, as my friend kindly offered, he is just shy.
That is some level of shy, let me tell you.
Then we were at a local opening, for a little museum in town, and they had put up a lovely new plaque explaining all about it in Catalan, Castillian, Braille and English. I cannot attest to the Catalan and Castillian, though I imagine it was very correct. Nor can I attest to the braille, other than to say it was bumpy.
- as an aside here, how is the blind person to find the sign anyway?
The English though....was really bad.
A shame.
WHY WHY WHY didn't they ask us to look it over, you may ask?
Guess who runs that museum.
My man (to differentiate him from the rudest man) went over and diplomatically pointed out that we would be quite willing to help and please don't put up anymore signs without a native speaker looking them over. Yee gads. He even -diplomatically I thought- mentioned how difficult it is to get just the right words in just the right tone in a foreign language; though the problems with this sign runs deeper than that.
Turns out they were translated by the wife of the rudest guy's closest buddy. Seems she is an English teacher.
I dread to think.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Funeral (Sorry Hula, but it is what I did today)
I have now officially been to my first Catalan funeral.
The social pressure on the street has been mounting with each death. That sounds horribly morbid, but we live in the older part of town and there are quite a lot of seniors on our street. Indeed today's was the third funeral in a week.
Things I noticed, and a caveat.
I don't think I have ever been to a full-on Catholic funeral before, so some of these differences may be a function of religious differences.
Nobody spoke but the priest. No one. Weird. Impersonal too.
It was a full mass. People took communion. That seemed strange to me.
The casket came in on this wheel-y-bin kind of thing, like a massively overfilled shopping cart. That sounds odd and all, but that is what it looked like.
Every funeral I have been to the casket has either been there when the people arrived and stayed there till after they left, or it was carried in and out on people's shoulders. That said, I haven't been to all that many funerals.
People were WAY casually dressed. I did ask in advance, and I was not expected to wear all black, which I do in Canada....but.....but....
OK, I was told that wearing all black is old fashioned and that only the family would maybe wear black.
The adult sons of the man were not wearing ties. They had on striped shirts under their jackets. The children in the family were wearing regular, nice-ish clothes.
But, I am sorry, I know I sound horribly Victorian here, but WHO over the age of 16 wears jeans to a funeral of an old man.
Jeans and a checked shirt, a shabby jacket and whatever shoes seemed the comfiest to put on.
BIG cultural difference there, cause it seemed to be just fine. The man and I were talking about it, and some of these people did just come from work, but I have worn funeral clothes to work because I have to go to one. I was probably dressed more somberly than most, with brown linen pants, a black turtleneck, black jacket (fleecy, I would never have worn that in Canada, but the church is cold) black shoes, none too clean, plus a very small muted necklace, hair tied back.
The son I know well enough to attend the funeral has been a student of mine for several years and interestingly I warranted a double cheek-kiss, which not many folks were getting.
The man had been very ill. It is still, in many ways, sad.
I feel worst for his grandchildren. They are too young to recognise how ill he was, and they will miss him. He lived just a few doors down.
*sigh*
Tuesdays are long at the best of times.
The social pressure on the street has been mounting with each death. That sounds horribly morbid, but we live in the older part of town and there are quite a lot of seniors on our street. Indeed today's was the third funeral in a week.
Things I noticed, and a caveat.
I don't think I have ever been to a full-on Catholic funeral before, so some of these differences may be a function of religious differences.
Nobody spoke but the priest. No one. Weird. Impersonal too.
It was a full mass. People took communion. That seemed strange to me.
The casket came in on this wheel-y-bin kind of thing, like a massively overfilled shopping cart. That sounds odd and all, but that is what it looked like.
Every funeral I have been to the casket has either been there when the people arrived and stayed there till after they left, or it was carried in and out on people's shoulders. That said, I haven't been to all that many funerals.
People were WAY casually dressed. I did ask in advance, and I was not expected to wear all black, which I do in Canada....but.....but....
OK, I was told that wearing all black is old fashioned and that only the family would maybe wear black.
The adult sons of the man were not wearing ties. They had on striped shirts under their jackets. The children in the family were wearing regular, nice-ish clothes.
But, I am sorry, I know I sound horribly Victorian here, but WHO over the age of 16 wears jeans to a funeral of an old man.
Jeans and a checked shirt, a shabby jacket and whatever shoes seemed the comfiest to put on.
BIG cultural difference there, cause it seemed to be just fine. The man and I were talking about it, and some of these people did just come from work, but I have worn funeral clothes to work because I have to go to one. I was probably dressed more somberly than most, with brown linen pants, a black turtleneck, black jacket (fleecy, I would never have worn that in Canada, but the church is cold) black shoes, none too clean, plus a very small muted necklace, hair tied back.
The son I know well enough to attend the funeral has been a student of mine for several years and interestingly I warranted a double cheek-kiss, which not many folks were getting.
The man had been very ill. It is still, in many ways, sad.
I feel worst for his grandchildren. They are too young to recognise how ill he was, and they will miss him. He lived just a few doors down.
*sigh*
Tuesdays are long at the best of times.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Diggggggging around for creativity under the daily dross.
I went to an exhibit of photographs from some of the factories that used to fill this town. Sounds like it would be dreary, but no.
They are modern photos, well done and nicely mounted. They are photos of the insides of the buildings here in our town, and it is fun for a number of reasons. First it is simply neat to see. Then there is the element of hide and seek/sleuthing as you try to figure out which building these are. Then there is the beauty of the buildings themselves and the photos. It is also shocking how much space is simply sitting abandoned in this town, and with the cost of housing it is astonishing.
One of the factories had, as a floor, a massive mosaic of all manor of different tiles.
It is, simply, stunning.
I should try and get in there to take a photo. Wonder how I would swing that.
A photo of the photo of the floor is just not the same thing.
*note to self*
Re-remind myself to capture some of the beauty around us.
I should go into my workplace with the camera and just scrungle around.
Do you think I could ask Jesus if I could take pictures when he teaches me to make truita????
Think I will have to.
Must open my eyes again.
They are modern photos, well done and nicely mounted. They are photos of the insides of the buildings here in our town, and it is fun for a number of reasons. First it is simply neat to see. Then there is the element of hide and seek/sleuthing as you try to figure out which building these are. Then there is the beauty of the buildings themselves and the photos. It is also shocking how much space is simply sitting abandoned in this town, and with the cost of housing it is astonishing.
One of the factories had, as a floor, a massive mosaic of all manor of different tiles.
It is, simply, stunning.
I should try and get in there to take a photo. Wonder how I would swing that.
A photo of the photo of the floor is just not the same thing.
*note to self*
Re-remind myself to capture some of the beauty around us.
I should go into my workplace with the camera and just scrungle around.
Do you think I could ask Jesus if I could take pictures when he teaches me to make truita????
Think I will have to.
Must open my eyes again.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Brag time
Youngest has topped off a winning weekend!
Not only did they win their game on Sat but she won a 3K orienteering race today.
By 12 minutes!!!!!
Don't mess with that kid,
You'll be left slurping up the mud flung off her flying heels!
GO GO GO!!!!!
Not only did they win their game on Sat but she won a 3K orienteering race today.
By 12 minutes!!!!!
Don't mess with that kid,
You'll be left slurping up the mud flung off her flying heels!
GO GO GO!!!!!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
You say po-tay-to and I say po-tat-o
I have continued to try and make a really good truita de patates, with little success.
The first one was not so great at all.
The second looked good, but was dry. It was made with the combined input from two friends.
The third was better, but it didn't hold together, at all. It was made with the advice from my local 7-11, which sells things like escargot, stuffed squids, pork in mushroom sauce, unearthly good canelones, sobresada, you get the idea...GOURMET ready to eat food. All of it made on site. Home made allioli for crying out loud! (The allioli is only on weekends)
Just an aside, have you ever tried typing the word allioli? It is quite the exercise for that little finger.
So I was in the local 7-11 today teaching my youngest the valuable lesson of asuaging misery with food. (SUCH good parenting) You see, she won her basketball game, which was all good. She coped just fine with the fact that the man had emptied all the money from my wallet without me noticing so we had no money for candy, but when we blew it and forgot about the literary contest she was entered in which had it's prize giving today, she was pretty upset.
I really wanted to go to, indeed we all really wanted to go and we simply forgot.
The fact that she can enter a literary contest in Catalan is pretty good, and it would have been fun to go, but we simply forgot. I also forgot to pick up a movie for movie night. Oooopps.
Youngest was not a happy camper, and improvements had to be made. Lasagne for dinner. Pasta and cheese makes everything better, along with Iberic ham flavoured potato chips. I kid you not, ham flavoured chips, and they are quite good.
ANYway as usual, I am digressing.
The lovely man in the local 7-11 (his name is Jesus, did I ever tell you that?) Anyway, Jesus and I got chatting about my failed truita attempts and he offered to let me come over and watch how it is made at his store one day. You see, I had the extreme misfortune of having been born in a family that doesn't make truita every other day, so I am handicapped in my truita making skills. Like a true foody, and a kind and generous man, he is willing to hand on his know how to this otherwise hopeless Canadian.
Sweet, no?
Truita tutorials from Jesus.
I lead an odd life sometimes.
Hope your weekend is going well,
Cheers,
O
The first one was not so great at all.
The second looked good, but was dry. It was made with the combined input from two friends.
The third was better, but it didn't hold together, at all. It was made with the advice from my local 7-11, which sells things like escargot, stuffed squids, pork in mushroom sauce, unearthly good canelones, sobresada, you get the idea...GOURMET ready to eat food. All of it made on site. Home made allioli for crying out loud! (The allioli is only on weekends)
Just an aside, have you ever tried typing the word allioli? It is quite the exercise for that little finger.
So I was in the local 7-11 today teaching my youngest the valuable lesson of asuaging misery with food. (SUCH good parenting) You see, she won her basketball game, which was all good. She coped just fine with the fact that the man had emptied all the money from my wallet without me noticing so we had no money for candy, but when we blew it and forgot about the literary contest she was entered in which had it's prize giving today, she was pretty upset.
I really wanted to go to, indeed we all really wanted to go and we simply forgot.
The fact that she can enter a literary contest in Catalan is pretty good, and it would have been fun to go, but we simply forgot. I also forgot to pick up a movie for movie night. Oooopps.
Youngest was not a happy camper, and improvements had to be made. Lasagne for dinner. Pasta and cheese makes everything better, along with Iberic ham flavoured potato chips. I kid you not, ham flavoured chips, and they are quite good.
ANYway as usual, I am digressing.
The lovely man in the local 7-11 (his name is Jesus, did I ever tell you that?) Anyway, Jesus and I got chatting about my failed truita attempts and he offered to let me come over and watch how it is made at his store one day. You see, I had the extreme misfortune of having been born in a family that doesn't make truita every other day, so I am handicapped in my truita making skills. Like a true foody, and a kind and generous man, he is willing to hand on his know how to this otherwise hopeless Canadian.
Sweet, no?
Truita tutorials from Jesus.
I lead an odd life sometimes.
Hope your weekend is going well,
Cheers,
O
Friday, April 24, 2009
Here comes the bride!
Here's some big news!
Seems the man and I might have to get married. Again.
In the near eternal quest for papers for the girls we went off and visited the local justice of the peace. Seems our marriage papers are not valid here and we are therefore, in the eyes of the Spanish gov't, not officially married.
Little did I know ;-)
Aside from the fact that I have just found myself single again, the implications of this probably have more to do with benefits and social security payments along with wills etc etc etc.....
Given the incredibly horrific realities of trying to get paperwork done over here, (our marriage certificate is still languishing somewhere in the Spanish Embassy in Ottawa after nearly a year) it may be simpler to go about 150 meters down the street to the city hall and get married.
Again.
This'll make it three.
Good thing I am so fond of the guy.
Seems the man and I might have to get married. Again.
In the near eternal quest for papers for the girls we went off and visited the local justice of the peace. Seems our marriage papers are not valid here and we are therefore, in the eyes of the Spanish gov't, not officially married.
Little did I know ;-)
Aside from the fact that I have just found myself single again, the implications of this probably have more to do with benefits and social security payments along with wills etc etc etc.....
Given the incredibly horrific realities of trying to get paperwork done over here, (our marriage certificate is still languishing somewhere in the Spanish Embassy in Ottawa after nearly a year) it may be simpler to go about 150 meters down the street to the city hall and get married.
Again.
This'll make it three.
Good thing I am so fond of the guy.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Books totally RULE
I had a dreary-ish post all typed up at lunch time, so I could go to bed early. I was very tired then; but in one of those oh-so-typical ways, I am not particularly tired now at all. Quite content in fact.
Probably helped that all four of my back-to-back hour and a half classes went really well.
That is cheering.
Plus the man made a splendid dinner.
Plus, although I am surrounded by death at the moment I am so not focusing on it, instead I am going to sing out the praises of some fellow bloggers who are doing some cool stuff.
First, Beth just finished a short story and sent it out to try to get it published! YEAH BETH!!!
Plus, JG has a mind-numbing 99 law journal submissions out hoping for publication.
And there is Carla who won a big fat award for some quilting she has done.
Off the top of my head those are some folks that are getting out there with their creativity!
GOGOGOGOGOGOO!
Continuing the theme, one of my students is going to be a grandfather soon and is drooling with happiness over it, which I find incredibly sweet. You should see his smile when he talks of it.
One of my classes I divided into two groups and had them make a movie. Can I just say right here and now that cell phones may be one of the most powerful tool we have for teaching language...those suckers can do a LOT. The kids made two movies, one reasonable and one really pretty good. When I figure out how to get it off my phone, I'll post it. They bluetoothed it to me, waycool technology.
Today is Sant Jordi's, the patron saint of Catalunya. The tradition is to give a book and a flower. One of the booths set up in the placa was doing a book trader, so I took that horrific Nino Ricci down, and the other one I had by the same author, who is now on my never to be read pile, and traded them in for some Catalan classics for the man.
Happy Sant Jordi's day darling!
It was actually this tradition that started the International Book Day, which is indeed TODAY, so go read a book ladies and gents.
Let me know what else you have been accomplishing that is good/great/marvelous/creative/positive. I'd love to hear it.
Chin up all,
We simply are not allowed to be cranky on International Book Day
Cheers,
O
Probably helped that all four of my back-to-back hour and a half classes went really well.
That is cheering.
Plus the man made a splendid dinner.
Plus, although I am surrounded by death at the moment I am so not focusing on it, instead I am going to sing out the praises of some fellow bloggers who are doing some cool stuff.
First, Beth just finished a short story and sent it out to try to get it published! YEAH BETH!!!
Plus, JG has a mind-numbing 99 law journal submissions out hoping for publication.
And there is Carla who won a big fat award for some quilting she has done.
Off the top of my head those are some folks that are getting out there with their creativity!
GOGOGOGOGOGOO!
Continuing the theme, one of my students is going to be a grandfather soon and is drooling with happiness over it, which I find incredibly sweet. You should see his smile when he talks of it.
One of my classes I divided into two groups and had them make a movie. Can I just say right here and now that cell phones may be one of the most powerful tool we have for teaching language...those suckers can do a LOT. The kids made two movies, one reasonable and one really pretty good. When I figure out how to get it off my phone, I'll post it. They bluetoothed it to me, waycool technology.
Today is Sant Jordi's, the patron saint of Catalunya. The tradition is to give a book and a flower. One of the booths set up in the placa was doing a book trader, so I took that horrific Nino Ricci down, and the other one I had by the same author, who is now on my never to be read pile, and traded them in for some Catalan classics for the man.
Happy Sant Jordi's day darling!
It was actually this tradition that started the International Book Day, which is indeed TODAY, so go read a book ladies and gents.
Let me know what else you have been accomplishing that is good/great/marvelous/creative/positive. I'd love to hear it.
Chin up all,
We simply are not allowed to be cranky on International Book Day
Cheers,
O
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tired and a little blue.
Ok.
An old man on our street, one of our neighbours, who I saw yesterday outside enjoying the sunshine, died today at lunchtime. Chuck sang along with the sirens of the ambulances.
Friends in Toronto had to put down their beautiful loving old dog.
My boss has been away all week tending to a dying/very ill aunt.
One of my students has been away all week tending to a dying father.
Went to the school meeting at Youngest's school. That super school-y project I was kivetching about? The kids asked to do it and designed it themselves!!! They got the list of topics off the wiki page. That isn't so bad, and I would have been less grumpy about it had I known.
I get frustrated that my Spanish mobile keeps sending me messages in Spanish that I cannot understand.
We met the goats again in the mountains today. One mama had a still-wet baby trailing after her and meeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhing for all he was worth. Another pair were hanging out in the long grass waiting for little 'un's legs to pick up speed. Sadly no pictures, I didn't bring the camera. Even if I had though, Chuckalicious was hauling me h*ll for leather in the other direction in mortal fear of all the shepherd's dogs.
Youngest's bedroom still stinks and the girls are still rooming together. Semi-happily.
Youngest's teacher described the class as being "very". They do everything very much. It they are happy they are very happy; if they are working, they work very hard; if they are angry, they are very angry. It certainly seems to describe Youngest well.
I find it hard to describe how embarrased Eldest is by my mere existence.
At least I am giving her something to complain about in therapy when she is older.
An old man on our street, one of our neighbours, who I saw yesterday outside enjoying the sunshine, died today at lunchtime. Chuck sang along with the sirens of the ambulances.
Friends in Toronto had to put down their beautiful loving old dog.
My boss has been away all week tending to a dying/very ill aunt.
One of my students has been away all week tending to a dying father.
Went to the school meeting at Youngest's school. That super school-y project I was kivetching about? The kids asked to do it and designed it themselves!!! They got the list of topics off the wiki page. That isn't so bad, and I would have been less grumpy about it had I known.
I get frustrated that my Spanish mobile keeps sending me messages in Spanish that I cannot understand.
We met the goats again in the mountains today. One mama had a still-wet baby trailing after her and meeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhing for all he was worth. Another pair were hanging out in the long grass waiting for little 'un's legs to pick up speed. Sadly no pictures, I didn't bring the camera. Even if I had though, Chuckalicious was hauling me h*ll for leather in the other direction in mortal fear of all the shepherd's dogs.
Youngest's bedroom still stinks and the girls are still rooming together. Semi-happily.
Youngest's teacher described the class as being "very". They do everything very much. It they are happy they are very happy; if they are working, they work very hard; if they are angry, they are very angry. It certainly seems to describe Youngest well.
I find it hard to describe how embarrased Eldest is by my mere existence.
At least I am giving her something to complain about in therapy when she is older.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
So school-y. ugh.
Heavens above, you know what I hate?
Meaningless school projects.
Youngest had to do one on one of the provinces of Spain.
That's OK, but the topics she had to cover...BORING.
What are the major economic elements of this province? What is the climate? What is the topography? Include a copy of the flag, and shield along with a map.
*yawn*
Do you think she is learning anything here?
It is just a lesson in how to copy/paste and crib off Wiki.
There were some bits that were more interesting, festas, food and curiosities, but really. It could have been SO much more interesting, and maybe she would have been able to do more of it herself. How many primary kids do you know that can look up economic statistics, interpret them and come up with a phrase or two to describe them. You can guess who did that part.
What would you like to know about the Comunidad de Madrid?
I do now know that there is one of the oldest restaurants in the world there, or so they claim. That the Museum of the Americas has some shrunken heads in it, and that Franco was buried there. We didn't discuss that much, Franco is a bit like Voldemort, he who shall not be named....though the kids have some pretty irreverent songs they trot out.
I have a bunch of ideas of things I would do, but here's what I am wanting to know.
If you were to design a project on a state/province/geographic region for primary students to research, what would you like them to try and find out??? What would turn your crank????
Where would you steer them???
Meaningless school projects.
Youngest had to do one on one of the provinces of Spain.
That's OK, but the topics she had to cover...BORING.
What are the major economic elements of this province? What is the climate? What is the topography? Include a copy of the flag, and shield along with a map.
*yawn*
Do you think she is learning anything here?
It is just a lesson in how to copy/paste and crib off Wiki.
There were some bits that were more interesting, festas, food and curiosities, but really. It could have been SO much more interesting, and maybe she would have been able to do more of it herself. How many primary kids do you know that can look up economic statistics, interpret them and come up with a phrase or two to describe them. You can guess who did that part.
What would you like to know about the Comunidad de Madrid?
I do now know that there is one of the oldest restaurants in the world there, or so they claim. That the Museum of the Americas has some shrunken heads in it, and that Franco was buried there. We didn't discuss that much, Franco is a bit like Voldemort, he who shall not be named....though the kids have some pretty irreverent songs they trot out.
I have a bunch of ideas of things I would do, but here's what I am wanting to know.
If you were to design a project on a state/province/geographic region for primary students to research, what would you like them to try and find out??? What would turn your crank????
Where would you steer them???
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